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Monday, September 5, 2011

New Orleans, LA

09/05/2011
Today plans to avoid New Orleans changed and after arriving we all went to the main cafe (Du Mont) for their famous Beignets. Another place was less crowded though and offered a real breakfast of eggs, sausage, grits and toast for only $5. After breakfast Paul and I went to look at a couple museums but they were pretty much all closed. The French Market was open though and the free ferry over to Algiers Point was running. 
French Market
The cemeteries in New Orleans are also something to see - they have above ground graves (due to flooding) that you can see if you arrive before 3p. At one point I removed my sandals because they were rubbing my feet raw, something to keep in mind when choosing footwear. Though, if you watch where you step you may just find $10 laying on the ground. 
For genuine (and very affordable) Cajun food one of the drivers, Dave, recommended Verti Mart. The gumbo, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese are fantastic and a pint of each (a lot of food!) including milk is only $14. After seeing the sites and eating all that good food there was only one thing left to do, bar hopping. One of the bars screamed “new people!” every time people came in and another had a guy wearing a ribbed metal jacket that he played with drum sticks. At a bar called “13" Paul recommended a local favorite from his home of Newcastle, England called Newcastle Brown Ale. Apparently this brew is very addictive and has resulted in a high rate of alcoholism back home.
Popular concept in Tennessee & Louisiana apparently
At the end of the night many of us ended up at Check Point Charlie's where we enjoyed a local drink called the “Hurricane” and some pretty entertaining karaoke.


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